A Cloned Heart is still a Heart
by charlotteXOyates
Summary: Operation Kuron is underway, with the clone Shiro working to sabotage Voltron. But even though he isn't supposed to have feelings...a cloned heart is still a heart. Shiro finds himself falling for both Keith and Lance despite the fact that he's a fake, and he knows he has no place in their lives. In the end, will he be forced to bring them down, or will he choose his own fate?


**Holy crap this took FOREVER to write, and it definitely ended up MUCH longer than I wanted, but, here it is!**

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The entirety of the ship was flashing red in warning as Coran ran around the front frantically, checking all the vital parts of the engine and yelling out a checklist of everything currently going wrong, making sure everybody in the ship was aware of exactly how screwed they were. All around them were the neon colors of the wormhole, which also seemed to be collapsing in on itself as the ship neared its destination.

"Princess, I'm afraid we're headed for a crash landing!" Coran shouted in distress. Allura gritted her teeth and kept her cool, even as she stumbled from the rough shaking of the ship. Everyone else was holding onto something as they braced themselves for impact with looks of nervousness and shock at what had just happened. Only Shiro's face was neutral as the ship exited the wormhole, plummeting straight towards the rocky surface of the planet below.

Shouts of panic rose throughout the ship as they crashed, sending everybody flying despite holding onto stuff. Shiro's prosthetic arm grabbed onto a nearby railing, holding him in place as he watched the disaster unfold within the ship. Pidge was sent tumbling after her equipment, but a crash into Hunk's stomach broke her fall and sent him rolling straight into a wall. Keith cried out in alarm, but his arm was grabbed by Lance, who pulled him close to him, resulting in Keith looking away. Shiro took note of all of this as they fell. He needed all the new information he could get, after all, in order to do his job.

Things slowly began calming down as they all regained their composure from the rough impact, except for Hunk, who screamed for a good half-a-dobosh after the fall had already finished. Pidge nudged him, getting him to calm down as Allura shakily stood from where she was on the ground with Coran's help.

"What happened back there? How did Lotor know where to shoot at us?!" She exclaimed, a look of disbelief on her face. Hunk gulped as he rose his hand.

"Uh, yeah, that planet should've been completely hidden from his radar! Shiro, you said so yourself that there was no way the Galra detectors would be able to find us there!" Pidge stood up to pitch in.

"Hunk and I even did a test scan, we should've been completely invisible!" Shiro put a hand on his chin and looked into the distance to look like he was thinking it over. Obviously, this was just an act. He knew exactly how it'd happened.

"I don't know. There's a lot that Lotor does that doesn't make sense." _Except to me._ "For now, we need to focus on getting the castle of lions up and working again. Coran, how long do you think that'll take?" Shiro asked. Coran typed some stuff into the front of the ship.

"I don't know. I'll have to take a look at the engine, but I'd say it's gonna be at least a quintant even if Pidge and Hunk both help me fix the damage we took from Lotor's surprise attack." Shiro nodded.

"Then you'd better get started on it now. The rest of the team should focus on resting up. Objections?" His gaze rested on Keith, who just seemed to melt under Shiro's gaze and nod. The so-called leader was being surprisingly quiet as everybody went their separate ways on the castle to do their jobs. Keith wriggled out of Lance's arms, which still held him, and walked off to his room. Shiro's gaze followed him for a while. The fact that he wasn't objecting was making it a lot easier for Shiro to manipulate the team's actions, but it did spike his interest as to why Keith was acting this way. A quick search through Takashi Shirogane's memories told him that he was most likely being angsty and doubting himself and thus just wanted to isolate himself to mope, and that the most Shiro-like option was for him to seek him out and comfort him.

"Get some rest, Lance. Don't worry about Keith." Shiro assured the red paladin before walking off to find Keith's room. He could see the words of comfort he needed to give like they were scripted right in front of his eyes, knocking on his door. "Hey, Keith? It's me. Could I talk to you?" He waited for just a few ticks before the door opened to reveal Keith there, arms crossed and not meeting Shiro's eyes.

"Hey, Shiro..." He muttered, stepping back a little to invite him in. Shiro entered the room, door sliding shut behind him as they walked farther in. Keith was still avoiding eye contact as he just stood there, and Shiro understood that the black paladin was clearly waiting for him to speak first, to reach out and comfort him.

Shiro didn't actually have opinions on the paladins, didn't have opinions on anything, really. In the beginning, he had held the belief that he really was Takashi Shirogane, feeling and thinking and acting with that belief. Recently, however, elaborate plans began being fed to his brain while his feelings and thoughts of being real were sapped away from him. Now, he was practically a robot pretending to be Shiro, consciously working on the inside to complete his mission that he now knew was to take down the paladins, since that was all he existed for. He opened his mouth to speak, doing as their Shiro would do, but was surprised when Keith spoke up first.

"I'm sorry Shiro." He muttered. Shiro paused at this, a little confused. He hadn't been expecting for Keith to speak up first.

"What do you mean?" He asked, walking closer, genuinely curious to know. That was the most human thing he could feel nowadays; a thirst for new knowledge on the paladins, their weaknesses, their fears, their triggers, everything that made them tick. It was all information that was transferred from his brain to his main hub, so it wasn't like he wanted to know more about them on his own accord. Even this was part of his mission. Keith sighed as he leaned against the wall.

"I...put the team in danger. I should've thought things through more. Lotor saw right through us, but I don't know what I should've done differently as a leader..." Shiro's eyes softened in sympathy, on the outside only of course. He wasn't capable of feeling actual sympathy. That said, it really wasn't Keith's fault. Shiro had suggested that they take refuge on that planet and had given away their location to Lotor. Really, there wasn't anything Keith could've done differently, but he didn't know that and he couldn't be allowed to know that. So, Shiro instead placed a hand on Keith's shoulder, making him look up at him with eyes that said he would trust whatever came out of his mouth next.

"Listen, Keith. You did your best, okay? Being a leader isn't something that's going to come to you right away. You have to learn from your mistakes. Use losses like this to become a better leader." He smiled convincingly, squeezing Keith's shoulder lightly to comfort him. Keith's eyes were still dotted with doubt, but he nodded out of admiration for Shiro.

"...alright. I will." Shiro's hand slid off of Keith's shoulder as he prepared to go check up on the rest of the team members and gather more intel, but then Keith spoke up again. "I wish I could be like you, Shiro." Shiro paused briefly, the tone in Keith's voice sounding like he was gathering a lot of his courage just to speak. "You...you always know what to say, or what to do. Ever since we first met at the garrison." Shiro's eyes were widening a bit as his brain scrambled to try and figure out what the real Shiro would do in a situation like this, but Keith was moving too quickly for him to find an answer as he stepped forward. "You know...you've always been there for me. Even when I didn't deserve it." Keith's eyes were cast downwards as he moved closer, making a strange feeling of electricity shoot up Shiro's spine.

What was happening? What was going on? What was he supposed to do? His memories of of Takashi Shirogane could only offer him so many answers to so many situations. It was easy to find the correct words to say to the paladins when they were doubting their place on the team, but Keith was bringing up his personal connection with Shiro, and there was nothing in his brain to help him figure it out. It would seem all of those memories were stored in the heart of the original Shiro. He just stayed frozen as Keith moved a little closer until he was in Shiro's chest, hugging him.

"I'm just trying to say..." Shiro's heart was beating faster and faster, which was crazy because he wasn't even human, but somehow Keith was making his body heat up. "...thank you. For always being there." Keith said simply, clearly waiting for Shiro to offer some sort of comfort and hug him back. He slowly looked down at Keith, with his cheek pressed to his chest and his eyes closed and arms wrapped around him. He was just thanking Shiro. That was all that this was...and yet, Shiro found himself wanting more.

This was impossible. That should be impossible. He shouldn't be capable of wanting anything, but here Keith was, arms clasped around his torso, and Shiro wanted _more_.

"Keith..." He muttered. Keith's ears perked and he looked up in confusion, mouth opening to speak Shiro's name, but he was cut off as Shiro leaned down and captured his lips in his own. He let out a squeak of surprise that Shiro found simply adorable as his hand cupped his cheek, eyes shut as he tilted his head and kissed him. He wasn't even sure why he was doing this, couldn't understand any of it at all. All he knew was that he was a machine created for sabotage and everyday was filled with constant fighting where his 'team' relied on him to give support, but nobody offered any support to him...and that should've been fine. Shiro was a clone, a fake, an empty shell of knowledge. Support and comfort shouldn't be things he needed, shouldn't be things he could even _feel_ , but Keith had gone out of his way to show Shiro gratitude, and that mixed with all the memories he had of Keith gave him his answer of what to do in this situation. He didn't know if this was what the real Shiro would do, but it was what he felt was the right thing to do. What he _wanted_ to do.

Keith slowly pulled back from the kiss, face red and tongue hanging out slightly as he panted.

"Sh-shiro, why are you-mmm!" He was cut off as Shiro pressed their mouths together again, backing Keith up until he was against the wall, hands pressed against Shiro's chest lightly, and god he couldn't get enough of Keith. The heat in the room was rising exponentially as the black paladin opened his mouth up, still moaning and squeaking into the kiss and allowing Shiro's tongue to enter his mouth. He squirmed in between Shiro's chest and the wall, and feeling him move around like that made Shiro growl in excitement. He was getting aroused. Even though he wasn't human or even independently sentient, he was experiencing arousal.

"Sh-shiro..." Keith breathed out as they broke for air for a moment, strings of saliva connecting their mouths. The smaller boy's eyes were glazed over with shock as he stared at Shiro, body curling into itself a bit and making him look incredibly small pressed against the wall. Shiro was in an equally dazed state, unable to believe that he was feeling the things he was feeling. Every time he touched Keith like this, it made him feel a little more human. Every extra bit of arousal made him feel more alive. He wanted more. He needed more. He never knew how badly he craved to be real until he touched Keith and started feeling these sensations.

"Keith." He growled as his hands gripped his shoulders firmly. He watched as Keith shivered at his tone of voice and looked back up at Shiro, hands gripping onto his shirt as he continued panting with a red face.

"Shiro, we...we shouldn't..." Keith muttered, although he didn't sound too sure of himself. The fact that Keith wasn't completely fighting him off only egged Shiro on more as he scooped Keith up in his arms with ease, making the boy gasp and grab onto Shiro before he was dumped onto the bed with Shiro climbing on top of him. "Shir-mmm!" Keith's complaints died away as Shiro kissed him again. Their tongues mashed together, and for all the worrying Keith seemed to be doing, he was definitely obeying and consenting to Shiro, letting his tongue dominate his while opening his mouth more for Shiro to explore. Their bodies were pressed close as their chests rubbed together, Shiro letting out low moans while Keith made sounds of desperation as their tongues danced in synchronization with each other.

Shiro's body felt so real that it was unreal. On the outside, he could feel his erection bulging in his pants with arousal as his body radiated desire for Keith. On the inside, he felt joyful and valued just by Keith doing something so simple like thanking Shiro for everything he'd ever done, even though all he'd done was sabotage them. Obviously Keith had been talking about _his_ Shiro and how _he_ made Keith feel, but hearing those words of adoration and praise, it made him want to be Keith's Shiro. It made no sense. He was a tool, created for a purpose, but he wanted a purpose other than bringing Keith and his team down. He wanted to be able to hear Keith say 'thank you' and have it be directed to something he actually did. He was feeling a personal desire of his own other than what he was made for...and he wanted to feel it and understand it even more.

"Keith..." Shiro said his name with a tone that conveyed his sheer desire and longing for the boy, wanting Keith to help him understand what it meant to be alive. Of course, Keith didn't know Shiro's intentions behind doing this since he thought he was his Shiro, but that didn't seem to stop the boy from accepting it. He was sprawled below Shiro, offering his body up completely. This made Shiro's heart begin to pound with what could only be excitement as he began to undress himself, taking off his shirt and revealing his massive chest and shoulders. Keith was practically drooling as his eyes took in his naked top appreciatively, like he had always wanted to see it up close. The thought that he was letting Keith live out a dream of his made Shiro even happier, even if this wasn't the same since...he was just a clone. Just a replacement. Just a fake, trying to understand the concept of humanity.

"Shiro, please..." Keith's whimper snapped Shiro out of his self monologue and back to him. Keith looked starved for attention as he stared into Shiro's eyes, hair sweaty and splayed messily beneath his head. He looked so...vulnerable. Shiro wanted to make a mess of him, wanted to _do_ things to that body and hear his voice even more. He began stripping Keith of his clothes, exposing his lean top and pulling down his pants. Keith was panting and straining his hips, trying to create friction for himself by rubbing his cock against his boxers. It was an action that showed just how desperate Keith was, and Shiro could do nothing except watch in pure fascination as Keith humped himself into his underwear, relying on the tightness of his bulge for minimal friction.

"O-oh...Shiro..." He moaned, eyes just barely slitted open as he pleasured himself with his boxers, but obviously it wasn't enough for him. His body was twisting and curling in every direction from how desperate he was getting. It looked simply beautiful to Shiro. "Please..." Keith gasped, looking up at Shiro through lidded eyes, still humping his cock against his tight boxers like a horny animal. "I...I need you to touch me Shiro." He said, hoping that being more vocal would finally get him what he wanted.

It worked. Shiro grabbed the hem of Keith's boxers, reluctant to pull them off because of how incredibly hot it had been to watch Keith humping desperately for friction. His desire to see Keith's full naked body won over, though, and he pulled the last of his clothing down to reveal his cock already dripping with precum. It was pretty and curved near the tip, making Shiro's mouth water.

Keith was letting out soft gasps at the feeling of the air on his naked dick and began bucking his hips up, face red as he bit his lower lip. It looked like his dick was so sensitive to every type of stimulation, and Shiro needed to see for himself. He reached down with his hand and gently grabbed Keith's cock, grunting in surprise when Keith's entire body jerked upwards into the touch.

"Shiro!" He cried out in pleasure, wriggling a bit beneath him before stopping to pant heavily again, watching intently as Shiro moved his hand along his cock. His fingers explored the length of the shaft, massaging it and tugging down hard when it got near his base. Keith moaned as this action stretched his head past the foreskin, and he tossed his head to the side and buried it back against the mattress. Shiro licked his lips at how hot that was and, unable to help himself, moved down to lick tentatively at Keith's head. The boy gasped and bucked his hips upwards with another needy cry of Shiro's name, body trembling in heated desire. Shiro's tongue ran over his lips again at the sight of Keith becoming a complete mess beneath him, all semblance of a leader completely gone. He kept muttering Shiro's name dreamily, voice spiking up at a particularly high pitch when his tongue pressed itself back against his cock, swirling it around a bit before Shiro took it in his mouth.

"Please, Shiro..." Keith's moans were repetitive, but pleading and crying out his name seemed to be the only thing he remembered how to do. Both boys were breathing heavily with lust, and Shiro decided he couldn't stay clothed any longer. He straightened up so that he was still on his knees in between Keith's spread legs, but his back was straight, and he began pulling his pants and boxers down, sighing in relief at the feeling of being fully naked. He saw Keith take a glance down, and the way his eyes widened when he saw the size of Shiro's cock made his ego shoot through the roof...even though an ego was another thing he shouldn't even have, considering he was supposed to be a mindless clone.

If Keith had been pleading before, he was begging for it now, body writhing about as he stared deeply into Shiro's eyes, inviting him to take his body. Shiro brought his hands back to either side of Keith's head on the bed and pressed their lips together, both of them closing their eyes and leaning into the kiss. He took this chance to move his hips forward, grinding his cock up against Keith's. The feeling of their crotches pressing together made Shiro groan into the kiss, but Keith's reaction was much more dramatic.

The raven-haired boy's back arched up from the bed and his hips bucked forward, thrusting his cock against Shiro's as loud cries escaped his throat. Every movement he made and every shaky breath he took was so entrancing and sexy to Shiro as he began moving his hips and rubbing his larger cock up and down against Keith's, grinning whenever the boy shivered and whined from under him. He rubbed them together harder as they both looked down to watch their cocks swell and throb against each other, precum spilling over from the slits as their balls bobbed together. The entire thing was overwhelmingly hot, and Shiro found himself unable to resist any longer. Keith seemed to be in the same boat, because as soon as Shiro dragged his cock down Keith's length and to his hole, he spread his legs wider and looked Shiro in the eyes with a flushed face.

"Take me, Shiro," He panted out, wincing at the feeling of the head of Shiro's cock against his raw entrance. "Take me, I'm yours." Shiro cupped his cheek in his hands, smiling down at him with happiness before pushing forward, eyes rolling up as he let out groans of satisfaction at how tight Keith was. His walls were clamping down on Shiro's thick cock, as if trying to capture it and make it stuck, but he kept pushing forward anyways, feeling the tight heat expanding around him as he forced his cock inside. He was losing himself in the pleasure of being squeezed and nearly forced himself in harder, but then he heard Keith's pained whimpers and looked down to see his face strained with tension and pain. Shiro mentally cursed himself, not wanting to hurt the very person he was built to hurt. His hand roamed down to touch Keith's cock a bit, giving him a bit of a distraction while his body adjusted to Shiro's massive size. Keith gave a low moan of pleasure and gratitude, and they held their position for a bit before he looked up at Shiro, panting and doing his best to smile.

"Okay...okay, Shiro," He breathed out, hands clenching into fists as he swallowed his saliva. "Go, Shiro. Move. Fuck me." Shiro groaned at hearing Keith tell him to fuck him. He intended to do exactly that as he pulled his cock out to the tip before shoving himself back inside slowly but forcefully. Keith's body twisted a bit in response to this, and Shiro could tell that it still hurt him to be stretched raw the way he was. He slowly pulled out all the way, making Keith whine a bit. "Shiro...it's okay, I just want you to fu-mmm..." Keith trailed off as Shiro inserted his fingers into his mouth, feeling him quickly oblige and go along with it by swirling them around with his tongue. He smiled in amusement at Keith's immediate obedience, letting him wet his fingers as he sat and watched Keith get really into it, eyes closing as he tilted his head a bit and sucked them harder, tongue moving against them. Fuck, that was so hot. Shiro was glad he had put a pause on the actual fucking to let Keith suck his fingers, not just because it would loosen him up and make it less painful for him, but also because he got to witness Keith suck and lick his fingers like it was the most wonderful thing to him.

He slowly began pulling his fingers out, having to fight against the suction of Keith's mouth as he tried to keep them in. Shiro chuckled as his fingers popped out, leaving Keith panting hard with his mouth wide open, staring at Shiro in lust.

" _Please_ Shiro!" He begged, wiggling his body a bit in need. Shiro moved down to plant a kiss on his lips in reassurance before bringing two slick fingers to his eager entrance, wasting no time in sliding them inside. Keith's hips twitched at the strange feeling, but he slowly began relaxing as Shiro let out comforting shushing noises while rubbing his beautiful stomach. His fingers wriggled in more before they began spreading in two different directions, stretching Keith out experimentally while wetting his insides. He wasn't letting out much noise anymore; just breathing hard as he looked up at Shiro and trusted him to take care of him.

Until now, all Shiro had done was exploit their trust. It was the only thing he could do, since he barely had control over his own actions. He had all free thought taken away from him except that he was set on doing what would hurt the paladins most while remaining undercover. But now, instead of exploiting Keith's trust in him, he wanted to preserve it. He wanted to be Keith's Shiro.

To convey this, his fingers began curling up inside of Keith as a third one entered, making the body beneath him give a small shudder. He gulped, seeing how vulnerable the leader of Voltron was willing to become just for him, all spread out and helpless. His fingers stretched him out more, suddenly wanting to protect him more, wanting to make sure his hole was as well prepared for his cock as possible so that it wouldn't hurt. As he explored Keith's ass, his fingers brushed up against his sensitive prostate, making Keith's back arch as he cried out in pleasure. That reaction immediately piqued Shiro's interest, and so he moved his fingers against it again.

"Shiro!" Keith gasped, hands clawing at the bed sheet as he attempted to push his ass against the fingers more. Shiro grinned, glad to know where Keith's prostate was. His fingers teasingly moved inside of Keith some more before pulling out. He leaned over to capture Keith's mouth, the two of them locking tongues fiercely and passionately with heads dazed with lust. They pulled away reluctantly with a sighing sound and looked each other in the eyes, panting for air as Shiro moved the head of his cock to press against Keith's hole. He gulped and gave Shiro a pleading look.

"P-please, Shiro...I need it now...no more waiting..." Shiro stroked the side of Keith's head before moving his hips forward, teeth clenching as he moaned at the feeling of Keith's tight heat wrapping around the head of his cock. He could feel his walls opening up a bit easier now that he had taken his fingers first, and this encouraged Shiro to push in more without hesitation. Keith shivered, ass clamping down on Shiro's fat cock as he inserted more and more of himself in until he was nearly balls deep. He kissed down Keith's jawline, drawing out more moans from the boy as his mouth went to his ear.

"Feeling nice and full yet, like you wanted?" Keith gulped and nodded, relaxing his body around Shiro's cock and submitting himself completely.

"Fuck me, Shiro, deep and hard, fuck me!" He begged, looking like he was going to go mad from all the teasing Shiro had been doing. Shiro grunted in approval and pulled his cock back until half of it was out before quickly shoving the rest of himself back inside of Keith, making his back arch and eyes widen. "God, Shiro!" He cried out, legs spreading even more as Shiro began rocking his hips steadily, moving his cock in and out of Keith at a moderate but consistent speed. He could feel Keith's ass flaring around his cock, going slow enough so that his walls had time to begin to relax only to be shoved apart by Shiro's intruding cock again and again. Keith was clawing at the bed sheets and clinging onto them like his life depended on it, back arched up off of the bed as he sunk his head back into the mattress, crying out for Shiro to fuck him faster.

Each cry was like a spark of inspiration for Shiro, making him pound into Keith even harder as his pace picked up with every single thrust, desperate to feel Keith's tight heat squeezing around his cock even more. The tighter Keith's ass got, the more he knew Keith was enjoying this. Pleasure and arousal was coursing through every artificial vein in his body as he applied more strength, gripping Keith's hips hard. His muscles rippled as he fucked Keith into the bed, propping his legs up onto his shoulders to penetrate the deepest depths of his ass. Keith looked like he was going to pass out from pleasure at any moment as his eyes rolled back and his grip on the bed sheet loosened, until he was just laying there with his legs spread on Shiro's shoulders, moaning and screaming for him to fuck him.

"Fuck...! You're amazing, Keith!" Shiro gasped out, stomach heaving as his balls slapped against Keith's ass with each harsh thrust, causing the rhythmic sound of skin slapping against skin to sound throughout the room, which only turned the two of them on even more. "So good! So hot! Gonna fuck you so hard!" None of these words were things the original Shiro would say; he was just saying what he wanted to based on the sheer level of lust that was coursing through his body as he fucked Keith, and the younger boy didn't seem to suspect anything. He was too far gone in his pleasure as he slammed his hips back against Shiro with everything he was worth, keening at the praise and begging harder upon hearing Shiro's words.

"Fuck me Shiro! Please Shiro! Please fuck me hard! I want you to fuck me hard!" Their shouts and cries filled the air as Shiro pounded into Keith, hand reaching down to take Keith's cock and pump it along with his thrusts. Keith's screams got even louder and more desperate from that as he wrapped his legs around the back of Shiro's neck and linked his ankles together to help him slam himself back against his massive cock. "Make me...ah! Make me cum...make me cum Shiro! Shiro please!" Keith's eyes were staying open with difficulty as he looked up at Shiro to show him how badly he needed this.

Shiro took one look at Keith's eyes, round with need and lust, and immediately lost himself even more.

"Fuck, Keith!" He roared, slamming straight into his prostate. Keith's entire body physically vibrated in pleasure as he tossed his head back, crying out as cum shot out of his cock and into the air before spraying down all over his chest in a white shower. His ass clenched around Shiro harder in response to his orgasm, making him moan in disbelief at how much tighter Keith could still get. He hit his prostate with every thrust, overstimulating Keith and making him cry out even more. Shiro gritted his teeth together, trying to hold out for as long as he could, smashing his hips into Keith's and ramming his cock against his prostate. The tight heat got more intense with every thrust as he felt his balls beginning to tighten. He looked down at Keith as he fucked him hard, watching as his body shook under the force of Shiro's cock. Keith slowly looked up to meet Shiro's eyes, crying out in pleasure.

"SHIRO!" It was like his voice was tugging at Shiro's core, drawing the cum out of him. There was so much desperation and lust in Keith's voice and eyes, and Shiro couldn't take it. He needed to give Keith his reward. A loud shout of finality erupted from Shiro as he came, hot liquid cum shooting out of his cock and into Keith as he pressed himself in balls deep, his final moan prolonged as Keith's ass contracted around his thick meat and took his load like it was made for it. Keith's constant cries didn't help, the sound causing Shiro to just cum harder and harder, dumping load after load into Keith. He had never personally experienced orgasm before, being a clone, and the sensation was unlike anything he'd ever felt. Their hips were mashed together as hard as possible until Shiro's climax slowly began calming down. He squeezed his eyes shut and began thrusting his hips slowly so that he could feel his cock pushing his cum deeper inside of Keith, who moaned in pleasure at the feeling of being so full of his hot seed.

Shiro finally pulled himself out with a sigh, sitting back on the bed and catching his breath from how amazing that had just been. Keith stayed on his back, squeezing his ass together to keep the cum inside of him as he turned his head up to look at Shiro with a content smile.

"...I love you Shiro." He confessed, making Shiro's eyes widen and his heart beat faster. His lips slowly curled up into a smile. He knew it wasn't true. Or at least, he knew those words weren't directed at him. Those words were meant for somebody else's ears, and while his first instinct was that Keith meant to say that to the real Shiro, another face also popped up into his head.

"What about Lance?" Shiro asked, remembering the way Lance caught Keith when the ship had crash landed earlier. Keith's eyes widened at the mention of his right hand man, and he looked away, unable to hide the look of inner conflict on his face. He slowly sat up as Shiro smiled and scooted closer, placing a hand on Keith's shoulder.

"It's okay, Keith. You can like both of the-I mean, both of us." Keith looked up at Shiro with uncertainty, prompting him to move his hand up to cup Keith's cheek. He sighed and grabbed Shiro's hand, leaning into it a bit.

"You're okay with it?" He asked, still not wanting to look Shiro in the eyes. Shiro smiled and leaned forward to press a kiss to Keith's forehead. How strange. He was already learning how to express his feelings for Keith, as if he really was human.

"Of course I'm okay with it." He promised. Keith finally looked Shiro in the eyes to confirm he meant it and nodded a bit, biting his lower lip.

"...and Lance? Do you think he'd be okay with it?" Shiro was surprised because this was all new information. Keith was asking if he and Lance would be okay with Keith wanting to be with both of them, which in turn implied...something else. From the knowledge he had, he was pretty sure that Lance returned Keith's feelings for him, but he didn't know how Lance would feel regarding Keith's feelings for Shiro. For some reason...he wanted to know. He wanted to know Lance's feelings and how the boy felt about Keith...and about Shiro.

"I'm not sure. But I can find out if you want." Shiro said to Keith, smiling. Keith looked at him with relief and happiness, eyes dazzling a bit, and wow, it did things to Shiro. Made his insides feel warmer. He didn't even know why he had volunteered to talk to Lance, but when Keith darted forward and wrapped his arms around Shiro's torso, he suddenly understood.

"Thank you, Shiro! Thank you so much!" Shiro's eyes widened as Keith delivered to him the exact thing he had wanted; to hear Keith tell him 'thank you' and have it be directed at something _he_ did, not the real Shiro. It made him...proud of himself. Proud, and happy to be doing something for Keith. His arms wrapped around Keith as he hugged him back, laughing as the naked boy cuddled into his much larger chest.

"No problem, Keith. Now, you should probably rest up. Just leave this to me." Keith pulled out of his arms to look up at him with a smile. Shiro had successfully cheered him up. They leaned together to share one last, gentle kiss before Shiro lay Keith down in his bed and pulled the blanket over him, putting his clothes back on. "Night, Keith." He said, giving a small nod. Keith shifted in the bed a bit, sinking his tired head into the pillow before nodding back at him.

"Night, Shiro." With that, he departed from Keith's room, shutting the lights on his way out. Despite having just spent his energy fucking Keith, Shiro still felt surprisingly active, most likely because of his excitement and joy from hearing Keith thank him. It was strange. He'd never felt this way before, and he didn't know what was going on...but it didn't matter. He was surely just imagining it. After all...he was just an artificial clone. There was no way any of this could be real.

He went to find Lance, checking his room first only to find Kaltenecker in there. It really wasn't that strange; everybody suspected Lance liked to abduct Kaltenecker every now and then. He left the cow to its own business and instead made his way to the bridge of the castle, hoping to find Lance there. He instead found Allura, who was analyzing a screen in front of her.

"Princess. Shouldn't you be resting?" He asked as he came up behind her. She jumped a bit when he spoke suddenly, but quickly calmed herself down and turned back to her screen, pressing more buttons.

"I can't sleep. Not after what just happened." She paused in her typing, brows furrowed in distress. "It doesn't add up, Shiro. The only way Lotor could have known where we were hiding is if our location was directly given to him! Unless...he's got some way of tracking through powerful cosmic interferences. This is most troubling..." Allura trailed off as she continued checking their stealth parameters.

Shiro just watched her. He felt...bad. He felt bad, because he knew he was the reason Lotor had known where they had been hiding, but Allura and the team would now be convinced that he had some sort of other way to find them through disturbances. This was his entire mission; to mess with the paladins' plans and throw them off from Lotor's plans...but for whatever reason, it was making him feel bad. He hadn't even cared an hour ago, but now he did. It made no sense. It was impossible. He had to find something else to think about other than his existence, otherwise he was positive he'd malfunction.

"Do you know where Lance is?" He asked. Allura side-eyed him before going back to her work.

"He mentioned something about needing a bath in order to regain his strength, and that he was going out to this planet's waterfall since our systems are down and the baths and showers aren't working." She informed him. Shiro raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the door of the castle. Lance had decided to just go bathe in some alien waterfall? He would say that that's either really dumb or really brave, but honestly, it was just really Lance. He thanked Allura before heading out after him, walking along the rocky surface of the planet. The waterfall was huge and you could easily hear the thundering water, so it wasn't hard at all for Shiro to locate it. It looked close enough to water that you'd find on Earth.

He continued walking, not even sure what he planned to say to Lance. He was pretty sure he was no longer acting in a way that the real Shiro would act, which was crazy to think about, and he wasn't doing something to try and learn the paladins' weaknesses either. He was doing this of his own accord.

There was no time to figure out what to say, because after just a few steps, Shiro heard a voice ringing from the shallower depths of the base. The voice was sweet and beautiful as it sang, sending shivers through Shiro. Something as irrelevant as singing shouldn't have an effect on him, but somehow, he could feel himself falling in love with the voice. He already knew who it belonged to, too. He turned to see Lance standing straight up in the water, showing off his delicate tan skin with water droplets slipping down his lithe body. When he was wearing clothes or armor, Lance tended to look pretty skinny and thin, accompanying his tall stature. Without clothes, though, his body was pleasantly curvy and lean, with shoulders that were surprisingly broad. It was Shiro's first time seeing Lance stark naked, and he was incredibly impressed. The boy looked much better without clothes on. It was easy to understand why Keith liked him.

He paused for a moment, surprised at himself for the thousandth time that day. Usually, whenever he learned or saw new things about the paladins, he just committed it to memory to be able to use against them and catalogued it back to Lotor. This time, however, he was developing actual opinions. He _liked_ Lance without his clothes on. It struck something within Shiro, and he began to move forward like a predator stalking towards its prey. Lance was still humming and wading through the water that was only up to his thighs when he saw Shiro approaching. Every inch of his face immediately turned bright red as he turned away to hide his front side. Shiro was just fine with this reaction; Lance's ass was definitely reviving his arousal.

"Sh-sh-shiro?! W-what're you doing here?!" Lance shrieked in shock, avoiding looking at him and moving into the water for more cover for his body. Shiro chuckled, thoughts that he never would've had before surfacing into his head. Lance looked...cute. His reaction was very cute. If Keith was implying what he was thinking, then the boy wanted to be able to be with Shiro and Lance together because he liked them both. At first Shiro just wanted Keith to be happy, but now...he really hoped Lance wanted it, too. Not just for Keith, but because he personally wanted Lance...even though he wasn't the real Shiro.

He realized he was just standing there staring at Lance, lost in his thoughts as the tan boy hugged himself and sunk down into the water more in self-consciousness. God, he really was cute. Shiro continued forward in the water, not minding that it was soaking part of his pants.

"You don't need to hide, Lance. I just wanted to check up on you. It's dangerous to just go wandering alone on an alien planet, you know." He said. Lance gulped, still blushing as he failed to look Shiro in the eyes.

"I-I know. I'm sorry, Shiro. I just really needed a bath though. You know, to cool down from all the craziness we just went through. It helps me calm down." He managed to say, although he was clearly anything but calm at the moment. Shiro smirked, an idea forming in his head. That was another crazy thing. He shouldn't have any interest in forming ideas of his own, he should only be doing things that served the purpose of his mission, and yet here he was, straying from his mission just to pursue Lance.

"No, I get it. Sorry for just walking in on you like this. Mind if I join you, though?" Lance's face immediately reddened in panic, but he didn't even have time to protest as Shiro began stripping down, throwing his shirt off to the side, quickly followed by his pants. He grinned when he saw Lance watching out of the corner of his eyes as he began slowly dragging his boxers down, his large cock already appearing as a bulge from seeing Lance naked. He pulled the piece of clothing over his crotch, letting his dick free into the air and stretching his back a bit to show it to Lance. He immediately looked away and tried to pretend he had never been looking. This made Shiro chuckle silently as he pulled his boxers off all the way and tossed them. He then waded into the water, letting the cool liquid surround his cock, and wow, did it feel soothing.

He knew that at this point he wasn't exactly sticking to the blueprints of the real Shiro...which shouldn't be possible. But he had a personal mission to complete now. He made his way closer to Lance, who seemed to want to run away but held his ground for the sake of not wanting to appear awkward in front of Shiro. That made him smile. He was such a good boy.

"Loosen up a bit." Shiro said, resting his hand on Lance's naked back, making him shiver and let out a surprised squealing sound. Shiro could tell Lance was getting more nervous by the second, which wasn't what he wanted. Luckily, he knew how to get Lance comfortable again. "You...doing alright?" He asked, hand moving off of Lance's back and watching the boy let out a sigh of relief. He smiled at Shiro before quickly looking away from his naked body. He was such a flirt, but when push came to shove he was just a flustered ball of embarrassment.

"Uh...yeah! Yeah, totally fine Shiro!" Lance assured, moving into the water a little more while hugging himself. Shiro also proceeded to head deeper into the water so that it was covering a little more of his body, eyes never leaving Lance.

"Going out to some alien waterfall is really reckless. You must've really needed something to calm you down." Shiro's hand moved forward to lay on his shoulder this time, making Lance perk up with wide eyes. "Come on. You can tell me." Shiro promised, smiling at him. Lance looked like he might try to deny it one more time, but instead gave in with a sigh.

"...nothing is _wrong_. I just...feel like I should be better at this, you know? Or, that I want to be better at this, this whole, supporting the team sorta thing. I want to be better at supporting Keith!" He made hand motions as he spoke, pausing at his last sentence and quickly looking at Shiro nervously. "But...don't tell him that." Shiro felt his lips curl up. He had known already that Lance felt that way about Keith, but it was nice to get confirmation. He squeezed Lance's shoulder a bit.

"I think you could probably tell him yourself, but don't worry, I won't." He moved a little closer, making Lance gulp as he took in Shiro's words...and his body.

"Oh...uh...thanks Shiro..." He said absentmindedly, his body rigid and frozen as Shiro towered over him, his insides meshing together at how adorable Lance was.

"I think you shouldn't put yourself down so much. From what I can see, you do a great job at keeping the team together." Lance slowly looked up to meet Shiro's gaze, and he could see just how much the boy craved his approval. He wanted to give it, wanted to make him happy. "I'm proud of you." Shiro assured.

The smile that spread on Lance's face from those words made Shiro's heart skip a beat, and for just a moment, he believed in his humanity. He wanted to see that smile more, and he wanted to be the reason for that smile. He didn't know what all these feelings he'd suddenly been experiencing today were, but it was a first for him and was overwhelming him in a way, and he decided he liked it. He liked wanting to make Keith and Lance happy, even if it went against everything he was.

"You're so much more amazing than you think." Shiro's hand began trailing up Lance's neck to his cheek, but Lance just shivered and smiled more, and it made Shiro want to shower him in an endless rain of praise. "You're clever, and you keep everyone together..." He began leaning downward, and Lance didn't move. He stayed put, looking up at Shiro and letting him move down on him. "...and your smile is so beautiful." Lance leaned into Shiro's hand at that and let his eyes close as their lips pressed together, one hand quickly shooting up to grip the wrist of the hand that was cupping his cheek.

The kiss started off gentle, but Shiro began getting more into it with each small squeaking sound Lance made. His ran his thumb against Lance's cheek bone as they kissed, their bodies weaving back and forth a bit in the water as they leaned into each other. Lance gripped Shiro's wrist harder as the kiss got deeper, their tongues wrestling together and sending more sparks through Shiro that made him feel so _alive._ They kissed for a good ten seconds before pulling away, eyes slowly opening to look up at each other. Lance's face was beginning to turn a deeper shade of red as he looked down at the water.

"Sh-shiro...I..." Shiro moved his hand to cup Lance's chin, making him look him in the eye again. His prosthetic arm wrapped around Lance's waist and brought him closer to Shiro, making Lance gasp in surprise.

"It's okay," Shiro promised, pressing up close to Lance again. He could feel the boy's smooth skin against his, eyes dazed and surprised at what was happening. Shiro's arousal was steadily growing as his thumb moved up to rub against Lance's bottom lip. "I want you, Lance." Lance gulped, eyes widening in shock for a brief moment before he leaned forward a bit, letting Shiro's thumb enter his mouth as he sucked lightly. Shiro let out a low moan at Lance's obedience, pulling his thumb away as Lance slumped against Shiro's body.

"...I want you too, Shiro..." He admitted, biting his lower lip. "But I...I like Keith...but I want you too..." Lance slowly pushed off of Shiro, looking up at him for an answer. He could see the lust in Lance's eyes, the desire that had been there the moment Shiro had caught him naked. He nodded in understanding and leaned forward to kiss the top of his head.

"It's okay. We don't have to go far. Come on." Shiro grabbed Lance's hand and lead him over to the shallower parts of the water until it was only a little ways past their ankles. Lance's face immediately reddened at the size of Shiro's cock compared to his own, knees slowly coming together in embarrassment. Shiro made comforting shushing noises as he began pushing Lance's shoulders down. "I won't touch you; Keith can have that luxury. I promise he wants to touch you, too. You can do what you want to me, though." Lance's eyes widened at Shiro's comment about Keith, body lowering until he was on his knees in the water, face to face with Shiro's cock. Shiro wasn't giving him much time to think through anything that was happening, but that was because he wanted this so badly, and he knew Lance did too. He wouldn't make Lance do anything he would regret, though, so just going this far would be good enough.

Lance moved forward and gave the head of Shiro's cock an experimental lick before slowly dragging his tongue down the underside of the large shaft. Shiro groaned in approval, looking down and watching Lance's every movement. His tongue scaled back up until it reached the head and his mouth wrapped around the tip, sucking lightly. Shiro shuddered a bit at the feeling of Lance's plump lips moving down his cock, and he pushed his hips forward slightly to move along with it. He restrained himself from thrusting forward all the way, not wanting to hurt the boy even though his mission was to take down every paladin.

Lance moved down until he had half of Shiro's cock in his mouth, both hands moving up to pump at the rest of it as he sucked on what he had. He looked up at Shiro, and the sweet innocence in those blue eyes made Shiro groan and grab the back of Lance's head, unable to believe how innocent he could look while doing something as dirty as this. He took Shiro's hands on his head as a sign that he was doing good and started to bob his head on the half of Shiro's cock he was sucking, hands still pumping at the other half. Shiro moaned and bucked his hips forward, looking up at the sky for a brief moment to gasp in pleasure before looking back down at his servicer. The look in Lance's eyes alone was almost as satisfying as the feeling of his dick being sucked.

His muscles were flexing as he panted and held himself back from going wild on Lance, just looking down at him in lust and imagining all the wonderful things he would love to do to his body. He wouldn't touch Lance's ass today, but he couldn't promise his throat would make it out of here safely, especially not when Lance began pushing down more, taking more of Shiro's cock into his mouth. He moaned as his hands clenched themselves into fists in Lance's hair, the feeling of Lance's saliva closing around his cock pushing him one step closer to straight up face fucking him. He was sure that Lance was just teasing him and daring him to do it.

Precum began drizzling from his cock in response to the pleasure, and Lance sucked it up gratefully, tongue rubbing against the slit whenever he pulled his head back. He then rammed his face forward, pushing it all the way down until the thick head was stabbing the back of his tight throat. Shiro grunted as he gave a light thrust forward, making Lance moan. The vibrations from the sound rumbled through Shiro's cock, granting him a satisfying shock of electric friction. His hands began moving Lance's head for him, lifting it up and down his cock as he stared down into Lance's eyes, which continued to look back up at him. Shiro couldn't help himself anymore, he needed to indulge in his lust for Lance.

"You've been a good boy. It's time for me to take over now." Shiro said, hand clapping Lance's cheek lightly before he began pulling his cock out. Lance blinked at Shiro in consent before bracing himself, and Shiro quickly thrust his cock back forward, grunting as he felt Lance's mouth closing around it as best he could as he rammed his throat. His hands gripped his hair harder for better stability as he thrust in and out, large balls slapping against his face again and again. Lance's expression was morphing into one of pure lust and joy as Shiro face fucked him, like nothing made him happier than having his throat completely wrecked and dominated by Shiro's cock. This turned Shiro on even more, spreading his legs a bit to fuck his throat harder.

"Touch yourself." He ordered, wanting to watch Lance get off while he did at the same time. Lance couldn't make much sound to answer him, so his hands just wrapped around his own hard dick and began pumping in time with Shiro's thrusts. He was still sucking his cock while it was face fucking him, showing just how desperate he was for this. Shiro could hardly believe how submissive and desperate both Keith and Lance could be for his cock. It made him fill with desires both sexual and nonsexual, and it made him crave the ability to live even more, so that he could call them his own. For now, though, he just focused on Lance's throat and making sure that he fucked it so good the boy wouldn't be able to speak after this. Each hard thrust of his hips made Lance's body tremble and his eyes roll back in pleasure, and Shiro could tell the boy was getting off just by being able to get him off. He groaned in approval.

"That's a good boy, you love sucking my cock, don't you?" Lance screwed his eyes shut tight as he sucked hard and jerked himself off harder, doing whatever he could with his body to agree with Shiro. He chuckled between grunts, face fucking him harder and beginning to pant as his stomach flexed and his balls tightened. "You've been so good, you gonna drink all my cum? Not let a single drop spill?" Lance's body shivered as he basically screamed around Shiro's cock to send more vibrations through it, and Shiro felt himself unable to hold back anymore. His hands held the back of Lance's head and shoved his face all the way down into his crotch, balls slapping his face one last time as he turned his head skyward. "Fuck, Lance!" He moaned, legs shaking a bit from the pressure of his climax as cum began shooting out of his cock and into Lance's mouth. His toes curled as he clenched his teeth in pleasure and looked down to see Lance's throat bobbing in response to the amount of cum Shiro was dumping into him.

Lance's eyes screwed up in pleasure as the feeling of Shiro cumming inside of his mouth made him cum, white seed shooting out of his cock and into the water below. Both of them tensed their muscles at the intensity of the moment, letting out everything they had. Even though he had just emptied himself into Keith earlier that day, Shiro still had plenty of cum to spare for Lance, and it was a good thing he did, because the boy deserved the reward. He made eye contact with Lance, smiling at the look of satisfaction in those blue eyes as they both began coming down from their sex high. Shiro let his cock soften a bit in Lance's mouth before pulling out, and Lance immediately gasped for air and fell back to lay down in the water, chest heaving.

"Fucking damn, Shiro..." He breathed out, tongue tracing over his lips to savor the taste of his cock. Shiro moaned at seeing that simple action, crouching down next to Lance and looking over at him. Lance was massaging his throat a little, and Shiro felt himself worry that he might've gone overboard.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Lance let out a choked laugh, voice cracked and hoarse, like he had been choking on smoke for the past few minutes and not Shiro's dick. He nodded a bit, sitting up.

"Yeah...was amazing..." He confirmed, smiling. Shiro felt a prickling sensation in his chest upon seeing that smile and couldn't help but smile back at him. He stood up and held out his hand to help Lance up. The smaller boy took the hand and stretched a bit, his face turning mildly red again upon looking at Shiro's muscular body.

"So...just curious, but...why did we just do that?" He asked, looking away nervously. Shiro took a second to think of a good answer. Because Lance was adorable? Because Shiro couldn't get enough of Lance? Because it made Shiro feel more human? All of this was true, but he didn't know if he should say it.

"...because we wanted to." He said simply, smiling as he began to lead Lance out of the water. "It doesn't need to mean anything if you don't want it to." Lance's face seemed to panic at that as he squeezed Shiro's hand and gulped. They reached the rocky shore where their clothes were, and Lance slowly let go of his hand and ran in front of him to look at him.

"No! It's not that! It's just..." He trailed off, and Shiro couldn't help but chuckle on the inside. He was beginning to remind him of Keith. His hand moved down to rest on Lance's shoulder as he shook his head at him a bit.

"Shhh, it's alright. You know, you should talk to Keith about, well, everything." Lance's face quickly became nervous and embarrassed as he gulped and perked up a bit, backing up towards the rock and grabbing his clothes, still looking at Shiro.

"K-keith? I don't know...I mean, what if he reacts badly and this totally ruins our dynamic as Voltron,? What if we aren't even able to form Voltron anymore because I ruin it all by talking to him about how I feel and then, since it's my fault, I'll have to leave and then-" Shiro quickly cut Lance off by moving forward again, since Lance had backed up, and cupping his cheek, making him gasp in surprise and look up into Shiro's eyes. He gave Lance a gentle and reassuring smile.

"Lance. Don't worry about that. I promise, Keith won't react badly. Just give it a shot. Trust me." Lance slowly began calming down at Shiro's words, sighing and leaning into his palm a bit. He didn't look totally convinced, but he was ready to listen to Shiro's advice.

"Okay. Okay, Shiro. I sorta wanted to try talking to him about it, anyways..." He trailed off and began pulling his clothes on. Shiro walked to grab his own clothes, which he had tossed quite a ways away. His pants were a little wet still, but he could deal with that. As he was dressing himself, he heard Lance call out from behind him. "And Shiro? About...us. I uh...I really did want to do that." Shiro couldn't help but smile at that, pulling his shirt over his head before turning to look back at Lance.

"I know." He said simply, and Lance smiled back at him.

Since he had spoken to Keith earlier, he figured that if Lance and Keith talked about their relationship, he was probably going to pop up somewhere in their conversation. From his experience with both of them, he guessed they would be happy to know that they both liked Shiro to some extent, at least in a sexual manner, and it was possible they would approach him about it...

But now that he had felt what he had today with them, he knew he had to be careful. It shouldn't to be possible for him to feel and have personal opinions, but he did. He had very powerful personal opinions. The only problem was that they were under the impression that he was their Shiro, which, no matter how much he had enjoyed being intimate with them, he wasn't. He was still just a clone, and that meant he wasn't really the one they wanted to be with. But if he could make them happy, that was good enough for him. Getting Keith and Lance together...was good enough for him.

* * *

After those incidents, Lance and Keith did speak to each other and eventually got together. And while it shouldn't even be possible for him to feel anything, Shiro was happy for them, and he was proud to have been the one to help them get together. Proud that this was an accomplishment that he achieved; not the real Shiro, but him. Something he _chose_ to do. Keith and Lance showed interest towards Shiro, as well, but he always made sure to keep his distance.

He understood now. Thanks to Keith and then Lance, he understood that he was capable of feeling and doing things of his own accord, and while he didn't know what that meant, just knowing it was possible was enough for Shiro. Just knowing it was possible to feel the things he felt for Keith and Lance made him happy.

He knew he could never act on these feelings that had suddenly sprouted within him. After all, the closer he was to the paladins, the more dangerous he was to them. If it were up to him, he would've preferred to just leave altogether, to ensure their safety...but he couldn't. His overarching mission and purpose still haunted him and controlled him. He could still feel when Lotor was looking through his eyes and searching his brain for information on the paladins. He couldn't leave or do anything that directly jeopardized his mission of bringing the paladins down, but he found that he could now feel and do things other than the mission so long as it didn't directly interfere with it. He had gained some sense of humanity, and in a way, he felt closer to the other paladins, especially Keith and Lance. But it was only a matter of time before he eventually lead the paladins to their end...and it seemed that time was quickly catching up to him.

Shiro's breaths were coming out in ragged huffs as he ran alongside the rest of the paladins through the red hallway of the Galra base they were currently invading, or rather, had already invaded. He glanced to his side at Keith, who was in the front, with Lance just behind him to his right. The rest of the team was running to either side of him, covered in bruises as they searched for the exit.

"It's this way!" Keith shouted, glancing back at the team quickly before leading them through a door that should've lead to the exit hallway... Instead, it lead straight to a crowd of sentries, and directly in front of them in the middle of the sentries was Prince Lotor himself. His pupils briefly drifted to Shiro before he grinned at Keith, pulling his sword out.

"So, we meet again, paladins." He rose his sword, pointing it at the team. Shiro gritted his teeth, feeling his heart beginning to move faster in hatred. "This shall be our final confrontation, however." Lotor assured. The sentries raised their guns as the team began backing up into a circle, glancing at each other and specifically at Keith to tell them what to do. The Black paladin kept his gaze on Lotor, hands clenching into fists.

"Lotor." He hissed, eyes narrowed as Lance moved up a bit to stand next to Keith to face Lotor. Pidge was glancing around at all the sentries in disbelief, double checking a hologram map diagram she had.

"That's impossible! How could he know that we were taking this escape route? I shut down all the cameras and reprogrammed the patrol drones! We could've crossed through any hall, so how did he know to set up a trap here?!" Shiro felt a lump in his throat as Lotor began chuckling, and he knew that this was it. This was mission accomplished for him. His eyes roamed to the floor as Lotor's lips curled up into a triumphant smirk.

"It's easy, really. I've always been able to know where you paladins are, what you're up to...I might as well know every decision you'll make before you do. Isn't that right, Kuron?" They all followed Lotor's gaze to Shiro, looks of confusion surfacing on their faces. Only Keith steeled himself and turned back to Lotor challengingly.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded, brows furrowed in confusion...and worry. Seeing the paladins in disarray seemed to deeply amuse Lotor as he laughed again, and it made Shiro sick in the stomach. He knew that Lotor had been playing this war like a game of chess, using him as a hidden piece, and now it was like he was finally being able to call checkmate while revealing his secrets. And it made Shiro sick...because he didn't want to be just a chess piece. Over the course of his time with the paladins, he had slowly learned how to feel and how to have opinions...but, no matter how strongly he felt, he had never been able to interfere with the mission implanted in his mind, and he was out of chances to stop it. This was it.

"It's quite simple, you see," Lotor's sword was pointing straight at Shiro now as he grinned. "You all never stood a chance against me. Allow me to introduce my masterpiece; Operation Kuron. You may know it as the former paladin you see standing right next to you; Takashi Shirogane." Shiro watched as his teammates' eyes widened, taking in this information and trying to piece together what exactly it meant. They didn't need to mull it over too much, because Lotor continued explaining, drilling into Shiro how little individuality he truly had.

"Upon discovering the genetic information we had left of the Champion, the druids began working on a weapon that could destroy Voltron from the inside out and deliver them straight to their demise without them even knowing. Operation Kuron; the sleeper agent clone of the Champion." Wide eyes were surrounding Shiro as the paladins looked on in shock, not wanting to believe what Lotor was saying. Keith continued to deny it as he turned back to Lotor.

"No...! You're wrong! He..." Keith trailed off, turning to look back at him, and Shiro could see the doubt in his eyes as the boy struggled to fight for him, to stick up for him. His fists were trembling a bit as he stared directly into his eyes. "Shiro..." He whispered, pleading for him to deny it, to confirm that Lotor was telling a lie. He couldn't find it in himself to answer as the Galra prince let his sword arm fall back to his side, watching his plan unfold perfectly.

"Think about it. You've suspected it too, haven't you?" Keith's face began losing it's ability to deny it, his defiance being replaced with hurt as Lotor continued talking. "How else do you think I've managed to stay one step ahead of you? How else could I possibly know where to strike whenever you were hidden? How else could I be here right now, setting up the perfect trap?" Tears began welling up in Keith's eyes as he looked at Shiro in disbelief, making Shiro's heart ache. Lance was straight up avoiding looking at him as Lotor finished his speech. "I've barely had to do any work; it's all been an inside job."

Shiro's head was beginning to hang low in shame. He hadn't wanted to do any of this. He hadn't wanted to do anything in the beginning, in fact. But over time, he had begun to develop wants and to understand what was right and what was wrong, and he had decided a while ago that he wanted to not do this, that he wanted to leave the paladins alone. But no matter how badly he may have wanted it, he physically could not disobey his mission. And now here they were.

Keith muttered his name again, his voice so soft that Shiro almost didn't catch it, but he did manage to hear it, and he could hear the dread and hurt in his voice. He tightened his fists and gritted his teeth, deciding he didn't want to put Keith in this pain any longer. He rose his head to look at them, regret showing on his face.

"...I'm sorry. It's true." He admitted, stomach twisting when all the paladins backed up from him a bit. Lotor seemed to be enjoying letting them have their moment of revelation, because obviously he could have finished them off by now, but he wasn't. This was, after all, the completion of operation Kuron coming to fruition. He wanted to watch it bloom fully, almost as if he just wanted to torture Shiro more. His eyes slowly shut as he waited for the team to shout in disgust and berate him, to call him a traitor...but there was nothing. They were all still trying to process everything, but when he looked up, the looks on their faces said everything. He could see the looks of betrayal and hurt as they looked him over. Coran's voice was what broke through the silence as they heard him shouting through the comms in their helmets.

"Paladins! I don't know what's taking you so long, but the castle is taking heavy fire from the comet ships! I think his generals are flying them! I can't hold out much longer on my own!" Everyone's eyes widened in panic as their mindset quickly moved on from Shiro. Right now, they needed a way to escape this situation Shiro had gotten them into and get back to their lions, which were just beyond Lotor and the rest of the hallway. Unfortunately, Lotor also decided to make his move.

"Well, it has been a blast chasing you around, but with this I can finally move forward. Kuron," Lotor thrust his arm forward as Shiro's eyes widened and his Galra arm began activating. "Kill the paladins." He ordered. Their faces dropped with shock as they backed up more from Shiro, watching him intently. Shiro gritted his teeth together, quickly grabbing his Galra arm with his other hand, back bent forward a bit as he looked at each of them. His breaths were heavy and sweat was running down his forehead as his arm glowed with bloodlust and aggression, the fibers in his body lulled to take action by Lotor's command.

"Fight it, Shiro." His eyes widened at the sound of Lance's voice, and he slowly looked up to see Keith and Lance holding hands, squeezing tightly as they watched him with expressions of horror...and also hope. Belief. _Trust_. Shiro felt a familiar headache creeping into his head that occurred whenever he tried questioning his purpose, and a low groaning sound escaped him as he crouched over. His eyes were wide and all he could see was black and purple as he gripped his Galra arm harder.

"Don't do this, Shiro." Keith pleaded, stepping forward a bit and making him look up at the sound of his voice.

"Shiro, you're better than what he says you are." Lance spoke again.

"Shiro, you make your own choices!" Allura shouted, hand clutched to her chest.

"Shiro!" He could hear his name being shouted by each paladin as they called out in encouragement, and it wasn't for the real Shiro or somebody else. They were calling out to him, the Shiro in front of them now, the Shiro they had spent time with over the last few months, the Shiro that had learned how to feel thanks to them.

He was letting out a pained groan as their voices resonated in his head, gripping his arm tightly and staying close to the ground, head hanging once more as he tried to make sense of everything. He knew what he wanted to do, but his body was intent on doing the exact opposite, and it hurt just to entertain the idea of straight up going against his purpose, but he was fighting it. He was fighting it so hard for the sake of the things his heart had experienced lately, for the sake of the paladins, who somehow, he had come to want to protect, not because of who the real Shiro was, but because of who _he_ was.

He slowly looked up, desperate to just have the pain that was spreading throughout his body stop, when his eyes fell upon Keith and Lance. They were staying close together, looking down at Shiro self-destructing and groveling on the floor in agony. He couldn't make out every emotion on their faces, but he could recognize that they wanted him to make it through this, although it was probably just so he wouldn't try to kill them. After all, they couldn't still want him around after learning that he was the reason Lotor knew all their whereabouts.

And then his eyes travelled down to their hands, linked together with no room for him. They were happy together and wanted to be happy together, with just the two of them. Shiro had no place with them or the paladins. Being a clone automatically made him an outcast. No matter how he may feel for Keith and Lance, he couldn't be a part of them and their happiness.

That sealed the deal for Shiro. His hand stopped gripping his arm as it glowed purple, and he stood straight up, head still hanging a bit. His mind was made up. Keith and Lance's hands squeezed each other harder as Shiro looked up, a murderous glint in his eyes as he bent down a bit, preparing to lunge for the kill. Everyone stared on in disbelief as a clone of the man they trusted with their lives prepared to strike down his teammates.

"...SHIELDS UP!" Shiro shouted out, leaping high into the air and over the heads of Keith and Lance. Everyone's eyes widened as he brought his glowing hand swinging down upon Lotor, who just barely had the reflexes to swing his sword up in a pathetic parry that sent him flying backwards. The paladins were still trying to process what just happened, but battle instinct told them to do as they were told, and they all activated their shields as the sentries opened fire on them. Shiro gave Lotor no time for recovery as he rushed him again, and he quickly sent an uppercut his way. Lotor dodged to the side and backflipped away before finally managing to grasp what was happening well enough to block Shiro's next attack, sword locked against Shiro's arm as they both pushed with all their might.

That's right. Keith and Lance and all the paladins, they were happy together. There was no room for Shiro...and he was going to make sure that nothing came between their happiness. He couldn't be a part of them, but at least he could protect them. The prince's eyes were wide with anger and confusion as he panted, struggling to match Shiro's arm strength.

"What's happening?! This is impossible! You're my clone, I know you are! There's no way I've been tricked!" Lotor shouted in disbelief. Shiro's eyes narrowed in hatred and defiance, the purple color in his arm growing thicker and more radiant.

"You haven't been tricked." He spoke loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear as Lotor began faltering in the battle of strength. "I _am_ a clone!" Shiro let his heart be his guide as he pressed forward, heels digging into the ground as he sent Lotor flying backwards with a decisive battlecry. "But I am not _your_ clone!"

Lotor roared in fury as his back crashed against the floor and he was sent skidding several feet away, hair whipping about and sprawling all over his face. Shiro took this chance to turn briefly to the other paladins.

"Go!" He yelled, gesturing to the open pathway. They hesitated for a tick, looking at Shiro, but there wasn't much time for indecision. Coran's voice sounded over the comms once again, shouting for help. That kicked the paladins back into action, and Keith waved his arm for them to follow as they ran forward, shields still raised as they moved as a unit to block all the sentries' bullets. Lotor slowly got up, and Shiro immediately rushed at him, locking his hand against his sword once more and allowing the other paladins to continue. Lotor gritted his teeth and shouted in frustration as they all passed him by, unable to stop running for a second due to the sentries shooting them.

"Shoot him! He isn't one of our weapons any longer!" Lotor ordered. Shiro immediately jumped backwards in an attempt to dodge some bullets and maybe even have some hit Lotor, but he only managed to evade a few before he felt a sting in his arm and thigh. He yelled out in pain and activated his suit's shield to block more bullets, but there were too many sentries, and pretty soon Shiro was down on one knee, panting as the sentries closed in on him from every side with Lotor standing directly in front of him with a look of disbelief and rage. He took a few steps forward, tightening his grip on his sword.

"How?!" He demanded angrily, leaning forward a bit to look down into Shiro's eyes. "How is it possible that you managed to disobey my orders?!" Shiro was breathing heavily, but he somehow found the strength to laugh, glaring up at Lotor with a smirk on his face despite the bullet wounds.

"Don't you...get it...?" His voice was hoarse and weak as he spoke, but still condescending enough to cut through Lotor and make him tremble with rage. "You don't...have as much control over things as you think you do..." He let his shield expire, leaving himself wide open, knowing it was the end for him. Still, he smiled up at Lotor with genuine pride in himself. "My feelings for my team are stronger than any experimental Galra gene you implanted into me." Lotor's face scrunched up as he brought his foot crashing against Shiro's chest, sending him flying back a bit. He walked forward again to tower over him.

"No, even that's impossible! You don't have feelings, you're a clone, you're synthetic! I took the ability to feel away from you!" Lotor shouted, eyes growing impossibly wider as Shiro coughed and began chuckling again.

"I'm beginning to wonder...which one of us is the synthetic one..." He grinned up at Lotor, and that clearly wasn't what Lotor wanted to see or hear, because he brought his foot down on Shiro's chest, stepping on him with anger.

"What are you talking about?" He spat, pupils shrinking in response to his fury. Shiro kept his grin, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"...it's pitiful, really. After only a few days...I'm able to understand feelings more than you." Hearing Shiro claim to pity him tossed Lotor over the edge, and he thrust his sword forward until the pointed tip was pressed against Shiro's throat. He seemed to be holding himself back from killing Shiro then and there, voice laced with hatred as he spoke.

"Is that so? You? A mindless clone? I already told you, I took your feelings away from you. What could you possibly believe to understand?!" Shiro wet his mouth a little, finding it difficult to speak as images of Keith and Lance flashed before his eyes, followed by the other paladins. None of the flashbacks he experienced were of the real Shiro; everything consisted of moments that he had personally shared with them.

He had searched for it and thought that he had felt it multiple times, but right there, right at that moment, despite being on the verge of death and despite the fact that the paladins probably hated him now for just being a tool for sabotage, he finally achieved true, genuine happiness. His head lifted up off the ground a bit, pressing his throat closer to the point of Lotor's sword to show that he wasn't afraid, the grin on his face only spreading wider now.

"Feelings aren't something you can just give and take, Lotor." He reached up with his normal hand, wrapping it around Lotor's blade fearlessly. "Feelings are developed. They grow along with you, and they redefine what you once thought was impossible." His hand began to bleed as he used it to lift Lotor's blade up, only able to do so because Lotor wasn't trying to kill him with it. His fury was only growing by the second as he trembled and glared down at Shiro. They held each other's gaze for a while before Shiro's look of triumph became too much, and Lotor stepped off of him and turned away.

"...kill him." He ordered. The words of finality didn't affect Shiro at all. He let his bloody hand fall to the side and watched as Lotor walked away before falling back, laying on the floor with a smile of content. He had done his job. He had completed his mission. He had saved the paladins and allowed everyone to escape.

The sound of Galra guns going off was the last sound before deafening silence.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Shiro hadn't been straight up shot to death, but rather, he was left to bleed out. So here he was, lying on the ground of the purple Galra base and looking up at the ceiling, bleeding out. He coughed a little, ignoring the pain that shot through his body from the simple action. He thought his body would've gone numb by now, but apparently he didn't have that luxury. That was fine. He had done some horrible things in his short lifespan, after all, even though he never really had a choice. Luxury was probably something he didn't deserve.

His eyes began shutting as he went over all the things that had lead up to this moment for the hundredth time, imagining the paladins and Keith and Lance. Especially those two. He could imagine them happily smiling together and running around and just being themselves. He wasn't a real person...but surely the feelings he had developed for those two were real. He was sure of it. He could imagine them holding hands with each other...and then, he could imagine them holding hands with him, Keith on one side and Lance on the other. And they would smile and laugh just because they could. He knew that wasn't a luxury he could indulge in, but the thought of it was comforting in his final moments, so he clung to the imagination. He felt like, in just the short time he had spent with them, he had come to know them so well that he could almost hear them calling out his name, running towards him so quickly it was like their lives depended on it...

"Shiro!" His tired eyes shot wide open in shock as two pairs of arms wrapped beneath his shoulders and pulled him until he was leaning up against a wall. Impossible. Crouching down on either side of him was Keith and Lance, both of them calling out his name with faces of worry as Keith's hand cupped his face to look it over. He coughed again, body wheezing in pain as his head leaned back into the wall.

"Keith...Lance..." He looked at each of them as he said their names, body hurting just from the effort it required for him to turn his head. "What...why?" He asked. Keith swallowed a lump in his throat, getting closer to him.

"What do you mean why? We can't just leave you, Shiro..." He said, trembling slightly as he looked over all the wounds on Shiro's body. Lance nodded along with everything Keith said, doing his best to smile. Shiro thought that these last few days had taught him something about understanding feelings, but he was beginning to question that, because he didn't understand this at all.

"But...but I'm not Shiro. I've been sabotaging all your missions...I'm the enemy..." He began coughing again, and both boys immediately reached out to grab his hands, the sudden warmth jolting him a bit and making him realize how cold he was as Keith shook his head a bit.

"You're wrong. You may not be the Shiro who I knew from Earth...but you're still Shiro. You're still one of us. You didn't want to sabotage us, right?" Shiro stared into Keith's eyes, unable to believe that he had faith in him. Lance spoke next, making Shiro turn to look at him.

"Yeah! You're totally one of us! That's why you attacked Lotor and told us to get to our lions to help Coran!" The smile on Lance's face was incredibly comforting to Shiro right now, and he did his best to weakly squeeze their hands back.

"But...so then...you still want me...? You still want me around...?" He asked, trying to make sure he understood correctly. They both gave small nods and began lifting his arms and wrapping them around their shoulders.

"Come on, less talking and more walking." Lance said, hoisting Shiro up on one side while Keith got the other side.

"Let's get you out of here." The black paladin said, standing. They began walking through the hall towards where their lions must be, moving forward slowly so as not to upset Shiro's wounds anymore as they carried him. He was still incredulous as he looked back and forth between them, the warmth of their bodies as they pressed close and carried him being the only thing that convinced him that this wasn't just some hallucination caused by his near-death brain. All along, he had seen Keith and Lance as being the ones who required his guidance, the ones who were just trying to find their way and understand their place on the team. But now here they were, guiding him while he tried to understand his place. Even after everything he had done to them, all the hell they had been through thanks to his nature as a spy clone, they were still sticking by his side, not because of something the real Shiro did, but because of _him_. This was a relationship _he_ had built with them, and only now was he realizing just how much he loved both of them and how much he needed them. They were the source of his humanity. He couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his face as he hung loosely between them.

"You know, this sorta reminds me of the time the two of you carried me out of that garrison hospital for the first time...well, not me, exactly, but you know..." Keith and Lance looked at each other and then at him with a smile before getting concerned again.

"Try not to talk too much." Keith insisted as they daringly picked up their speed just a little. Shiro did his best to nod his head, vision going blurry as the three of them crossed the hallway to the exit. The Black and Red Lions came into view, unmoving as they awaited the return of their paladins.

A small spark of hope seized Shiro for just a second before he felt a sudden buzzing throughout his body, and his arm began to glow purple. His eyes widened a bit, as did Keith and Lance's, before he slowly relaxed. So that was how it was. Of course. It had been foolish of him to indulge in the luxury of the thought that he could be happy with them...but, foolish as it was, he was glad that he had gotten to indulge in it for just a little.

"Shiro...?" Lance asked worriedly, watching as the arm he was lifting lit up. Shiro inhaled deeply, relishing in this final moment he had for as long as he could before slowly bringing his arm back off of Lance's shoulders, grunting in pain as this cause his right half to sink a bit. Keith and Lance immediately rushed him over to the wall so he could lean against it, looking at him in concern. Keith repeated his name, and he knew they didn't have much time, so he forced himself to stay awake through the pain and look up at them.

"Listen...Lotor is igniting the quintessence in my arm from my motherboard." Lance looked at Keith in confusion, making Shiro chuckle a little. "He's turning me into a bomb." He elaborated. Their eyes widened even more, but instead of running away, they crouched closer with Keith moving to look his prosthetic arm over.

"What can we do to stop it? Are we...going to have to cut it off?" Shiro was taken aback that they were trying to figure out how to make it out of here with him still, but figured this was the type of reaction he should expect. They really were the epitome of kindness. Even after all the danger and harm Shiro had inflicted, they were doing everything in their power to save them. That thought alone was enough for Shiro. Just knowing that they would be willing to go this far for him made him happy. His breaths were getting shorter as he looked from Keith to Lance then back again.

"No, it...it's going to cover the entire building. You're...going to have to leave." Lance backed up a bit, looking at him in shock as Keith immediately grabbed his hand.

"What? No! We aren't leaving without you! Here," He stood up and armed the black bayard, moving over to Shiro's right side. "We can sever the arm and take you back! It'll hurt, but...it's better than just leaving you behind." Lance gulped and nodded hopefully. It hurt Shiro's body just to speak, but he could feel the quintessence building up in his arm and knew there wasn't much time, so he forced his voice to work.

"Listen to me. It doesn't matter what you think of me, because at the end of the day, Lotor can still track me and see into my head, even if he can't control it. Nothing you do will be hidden from his eyes so long as I'm with you." He chuckled a bit, which caused him to cough. "Don't worry, I'm not real-you don't need to feel bad." They looked at each other before immediately crouching down by him, with Keith biting his lower lip and fighting the wetness stinging the corners of his eyes.

"Don't say that! You are real, you're real to me! And to Lance! You kept us in line and you helped us with so many things, not just with Voltron but with ourselves! You're...you're the reason we're together in the first place!" Keith pointed out. Lance nodded as they both held Shiro's human hand, connecting the three of them.

"Keith is right, Shiro...don't say you aren't real! Of course we're going to feel bad...I mean...we need you..." Shiro smiled at that, closing his eyes briefly to cherish the feeling of both of their warm hands against his cold one.

"Don't be ridiculous. You don't need me." Keith squeezed his hand tighter.

"But we do! I do!" Shiro took a deep breath, slowly opening his eyes back up.

"...you have...the paladins. And you have each other...and...most importantly..." He lifted his hand to rest against Keith's chest. "...you have yourselves. Keep going. The real Shiro...he must be out there somewhere, waiting for you to find him. Don't keep him waiting...go to him. Me, I'm not even my own person. Lotor can see into my mind. If I'm going to be putting you in danger..." His hand slowly began falling from Keith's chest. "...then I don't want to be alive. So please...please leave me. It's what I want...and what you need." Keith was shaking as he quickly grabbed Shiro's hand again.

"No...Shiro, we-" He was cut off with a gasp as Lance rested a hand on his shoulder. Shiro's prosthetic arm began making a buzzing sound, and he gave Lance a nod. The hand on Keith's shoulder squeezed harder, making the leader begin to tear up. "Shiro...thank you, for everything." He quickly leaned forward, kissing Shiro one last time, their lips pressing together gently. He pulled away, allowing Lance to scoot forward to kiss Shiro. They exchanged a kiss equally as quick and gentle before the two paladins shakily stood up and backed away from Shiro a bit, holding each other's hands and looking down at him in regret and sorrow. He did his best to smile at them.

"Shiro...one last thing." Lance said, clearly holding back his crying as tears dripped down Keith's cheeks. Shiro met their eyes. "You _are_ your own person. What you did earlier...attacking Lotor and sacrificing yourself...that's proof of it." Keith nodded.

"Lance is right. I'll think of you...even after we find the other Shiro, I'll still remember you." Shiro felt his body warming up from the inside out upon hearing their words, his smile growing wider as he managed to nod. He didn't say anything, because he couldn't. The purple glow in his arm was getting more intense by the second, as was the buzzing sound. He watched as Keith and Lance turned around and ran to their lions, watched as their eyes lit up to indicate that the paladins were back inside, and watched as both lions bowed their heads down towards Shiro, as if posing in one final tribute to him. And then, he watched as both lions turned their heads skyward, taking off towards the castle and away from him.

Shiro let go of his breath, slumping against the wall completely and letting his hand lay dead on the floor, eyes closing. He kept the smile on his face as his hand heated up to temperatures beyond that of what he thought was possible, and he let his head hang slightly. He neither heard nor felt the explosion.

All he felt was the feelings that had grown inside of him from watching Keith and Lance...and the happiness of knowing that, thanks to him, they could continue to move forward. He had spent most of his time thinking that it was impossible for his cloned heart to feel anything, but through his time with Keith and Lance, he had learned and proved that a cloned heart was still a heart. He could still feel, he could still learn...and he could still love and protect those he loved.

He had protected his loved ones. His mission was completed.

* * *

 **Gosh, this was honestly such a struggle to write and I can't believe I actually finally finished it. To be honest, I'm not the happiest with how it turned out, but I hope you at least found it enjoyable if you actually read the entire thing!**

 **If you did enjoy it, check me out on Tumblr! The link to my blog is on my profile! Okay, bye! Thanks for reading!**


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